Coin-controlled shopping bag dispenser



Aug. 28, 1962 c. w. STANGE EIAL COIN-CONTROLLED SHOPPING BAG DISPENSER 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 2, 1959 m mwm MM mw mm mm IA.

ATTORNEY Aug. 28, 1962 c. w. STANGE EI'AL 3,051,286

COIN-CONTROLLED SHOPPING BAG DISPENSER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 2,1959 Fig. 3

8m 2 I 0 .||.|ll 4 7 O 2 [INN 3 3 3 4 9 3 A, 104 5 3 4 w v o m 5 M. a/ O6 4 M Mm m 4 8 .l 5 O INVENTORS CHARLES MSTANGE HAROLD R.SMIT 1 ATTORNEY1962 c. w. STANGE ETAL 3,051,286

COIN-CONTROLLED SHOPPING BAG DISPENSER Filed Feb. 2, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet3 N I 40 6612] no? us D I \40 7T0) INVENTORS CHARLES WJTANGE HAROLD R-SMITH ATTORNEY 3,051,286 COIN-CONTROLLED SHOPPING BAG DISPENSER CharlesW. Stange, 125 Northfield Ave, West Grmge,

N.J., and Harold R. Smith, 15 Fairchild Place, Whippany, NJ.

Filed Feb. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 790,447 3 Claims. (Cl. 194-10) Thisinvention relates to coin controlled dispensing equipment and isdirected particularly to constructions for use in vending shopping bags.

It is common practice for department stores and other establishments toprovide shopping bags for the convenience of their customers. However,such bags are relatively expensive and little or no profit is derivedfrom their sale, especially when the bags are displayed for purchase onthe honor system with losses incident to the failure of customers to payfor the bags. Therefore, it is seldom economical to handle the bags asan ordinary item of merchandise. It is instead desirable to present themin an accessible manner for automatic dispensing to customers by meansof a coin controlled dispensing device.

While it has been suggested heretofore that stationery, such asenvelopes might be dispensed by coin controlled equipment, verydifferent problems are encountered in the dispensing of large bags suchas shopping bags and particularly bags having a handle formed of cord orthe like. This is largely due to the fact that shopping bags arerelatively large and heavy with the result that the friction encounteredrenders it practically impossible to withdraw a single bag from thebottom of a stack of bags. On the other hand, when the bags are placedon edge, they have -a tendency to flex or bend in the middle or alongone edge in such a way that the orderly removal of the foremost bag froma supply requires special means for supporting and engaging the bags toassure the dispensing of one bag at a time. Moreover, if the bags havethe cord or rope handles so desirable in shopping bags, the handles tendto become entangled and cause two or three bags to be moved or dispensedat the same time with a resulting loss of bags and danger of jamming theequipment.

In accordance with the present invention, a simple type of coincontrolled dispensing device is provided which is capable of receivingand holding a supply of shopping bags and is operable to remove anddispense one bag at a time from the supply upon each operation thereof.

It, therefore, is the principal object of the invention to provideimproved coin controlled means for dispensing shopping bags.

Another object of the invention is to provide coin controlled means forremoving and dispensing a single shopping bag from a supply of such bagscontained in the equipment.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of means forseparating and protecting the handles of bags so as to prevent tanglingof the handles.

These and other objects and features of the invention will appear fromthe following description thereof wherein reference is made to thefigures of the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustrating a typical form of bag dispensingequipment embodying the present invention with the rear portion of thecabinet opened;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the construction shown inFIG. 1 with the elements arranged in a raised bag discharging positionto which they move at the conclusion of each cycle of operation;

FIG. 3 is a View showing a portion of the elements of FIG. 2 when in alowered 'bag engaging position;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view through the construction of FIG. 1taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a detailed view illustrating a portion of the elementsembodied in the constructions of FIGS. 1 to 4;

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate further details of the constructions shown inFIGS. 1 to 4; and

FIG. 8 is a wiring diagram showing a typical electrical circuit whichmay be used in the present invention.

In that form of the invention chosen for purposes of illustration in thedrawings, the equipment is enclosed within a cabinet having a rearportion 2 pivotally mounted at 4 on a base 6. The front portion 8 of thecabinet is similarly hinged at 10 to the base 6 and the two portions ofthe cabinet are secured in closed position about the operating elementsby means of a lock 12.

The front portion 8 of the cabinet has an opening 14 therein throughwhich the bags 16 'being dispensed are passed through a bag guidingthroat 18 formed by the spaced front members 29 and an upper guidemember 22. A supply of the bags 16 is indicated at 24 and is maintainedin the lower rear portion of the cabinet where they are positioned withthe open ends of the bags facing downward and resting upon thesupporting plates 26..

The handles 28 of the bags extend downward between the supporting plates26 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The bags 16 in supply 24 are folded fiat and have a folded bottomportion 30 which faces forwardly and ex tends downwardly in the form ofa flap positioned to receive the upwardly turned end 32 of a liftingmember 34. The lifting member is movable in an arcuate path between thespaced front members 20 of the bag guiding throat and is carried by anarm 36 pivotally mounted at 38.

As shown in FIG. 6, the lifting member 34 is hingedly connected to thearm 36 at 33, whereas it inclined outer edge 35 is urged outwardly by aspring 3-7 extending between the arm 36 and a portion of the member 34located on the side of the pivot 33 opposite to the end 32. With thisconstruction, when the arm 36 and lifting member 34 are moved downwardto their lowered bag engaging position as shown in FIG. 3, the edge 35of the lifting member will sweep downward over the face of the foremostbag thereby serving to smooth out the bag and offset any tendency forthe bag to bend or flex trans-v Subsequently, when the arm 36 andlifting member 34 are versely and restore it in a vertical position.

moved upward, the outwardly pressing edge 35 of the lifting member Willengage the front surface of the foremost bag and enter 'behind thefolded bottom portion 30 of the bag to lift the bag upward to dispensethe bag through the opening 14 in the front of the cabinet. Even if thefolded bottom 30 of the bag should be stuck down against the face of thebag, it is found in practice that the pressure of the edge 35 of thelifting member against the front face of the bag will serve to releasethe stuck edge of the bottom 30 or will remain in engagement with thestuck edge so as to lift the bag and project the end thereof through theopening 14 so that it can bewithdrawn from the equipment under allconditions of operation.

The lifting member is positioned in the upper dis-- pensing position ofFIG. 2 at the start of each cycle of operation but moves downward to thelowered bag enraised dispens- Patented Aug. 28, 1962- to the lower endof a link 46 which has its upper end connected at an intermediate point48 on an arm 50. The arm 50 has one end pivotally connected at 52 to acentral plate 54 and has its opposite end connected at 56 to link 57which, in turn, is connected to an intermediate point 59 of arm 36.Therefore, each rotation of the crank 44 serves to move the arm 36 andlifting member 34 through a cycle from the upper bag dispensing positionto the lower bag engaging position where it will engage the foremostbagin the supply 24 and back to the bag dispensing position.

The bags of the supply 24 are advanced into place with each cycle ofoperation and for this purpose, the equipment is provided with a pushermember 58 connected at its lower edge toa split collar 60 which has itsupper portion threaded to engage a threaded shaft 62. A bracing member64 is also carried by the pusher member and is formed with a shaftengaging member 66 which rests upon the shaft 62.

- The shaft 62 is driven by the chain 68 from a sprocket 70 mounted onshaft 72. The latter shaft is driven by th bevel gears 74 from a pinion76 which meshes with motor driven pinion 42. Accordingly, each operationof the equipment to dispense a bag serves to rotate the shaft 62 toadvance the pusher member 58 a predetermined distance and thus move theforemost bag of supply 24 to- Ward the spaced front members 20 of thebag guiding throat and into position to be engaged by the upturned end32 of the lifting member 34.

The handle 28 of each bag is generally thicker than the body of the bagand, therefore, the pusher member 58 is preferably provided with a frontplate 78 which is pivotally mounted at 80 on the pusher member to holdthe bags in place and to equalize the pressure thereon as the pushermember is advanced by shaft 62. The pivot 80 is preferably positionedbelow the center of the plate 78 so that the upper edge of the platewill tend to tilt forward due to the greater thickness of the handles ofthe bags near the bottom of the plate 78. The bottoms of the bags arethus pressed forward into position to be engaged by the lifting membereven though they may be thinner than the handles.

In order to actuate the equipment in response to the insertion of acoin, the front portion 8 of the cabinet is provided with a coin slot 82which guides the coin inserted past a contact member 84 such as amicro-switch to a coin box (not shown). The contact member 84, whenactuated, serves to close a circuit which energizes solenoid 86 to liftthe latch member 88 which is pivotally mounted at 99 on a support 101from the engaging end 90 of a bell crank lever 92. The bell crank ispivotally mounted at 94 and is urged in counter clockwise direction asseen in FIG. by means of a spring 96 suitably connected to the bellcrank lever 92 and to the support 101. Therefore, when the latch member88 is lifted by the solenoid 86, the switch end 98 of the bell crankwill engage and close the motor starting switch 100 to complete acircuit through the motor 40. In this way, the dispensing cycle isinitiated and will continue as long as the motor is energized.

In order to return the latch 88 and the bell crank 92 to their startingpositions as shown in FIG. 5, the pinion 76 is provided with a pin 102which is engageable with a slide 104. The slide 104 is positioned tocontact the engaging end 90 of the bell crank 92 as it is moved by thepin 102 against the action of biasing member 103. In this way the bellcrank is rocked about its pivot against the action of spring 96 afterwhich pin 102 will move on beyond the slide 104 as the pinion 76continues to rotate. When bell crank 92 is rocked about its pivot byslide 104, the latch member 88 drops behind the engaging end 90 of thebell crank lever under the action of the spring 106 restoring andholding the elements in the starting position of FIG. 6.

When the bell crank 92 is returned to its starting position,.the switchend 98 thereof disengages switch 100 and this switch is opened. However,the motor circuit is maintained by means of a holding switch 108positioned to be engaged by the arm 36 of the bag lifting member.Therefore, the motor will continue to operate until the lifting arm 36has returned to its upper dispensing position. Switch 108 will then bedisengaged by arm 36 and the motor circuit will be broken when all theelements have been restored to their original positions ready forinitiating a new cycle of operation.

In order to prevent improper operation of the equipment, blocking meansare provided for the coin slot 82. Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, a rod 110is pivotally mounted at 112 and has an end 114 positioned to extendacross the coin slot. The end 114 is normally retracted from the coinslot by a relay 118 but is movable to a coin blocking position by spring116 suitably connected to the rod 110 and to a stationary element suchas the central plate 54. The relay 118 is normally energized to renderthe coin slot usable but is de-energized whenever the bag operatedswitch 120 on the upper guide member 22 of the bag guiding throat 18 isopened by a bag moving through the bag guiding throat of the equipment.Similarly, a bag supply switch 122 is connected to the relay 118 and ispositioned to be opened by the pusher member 58 when the supply 24 ofbags is exhausted. In these ways the customer is prevented frominserting a coin in the coin slot at all times before completion of abag dispensing operation or when there are no bags in the machine.

In accordance with the present invention, the bags employed arepreferably provided with handle protecting and shielding means as shownin FIG. 6. For this purpose, each bag is preferably provided with apiece of paper or the like 124 which is attached to the body of the bag16 adjacent the handle 28 thereof. The protecting piece 124 is of largerarea than the handle 28 and thus projects beyond the same so that whenthe bags are arranged in the supply 24 and as they are moved forward andlifted from the supply, each handle is separated from those of adjacentbags and prevented from tangling therewith. The bags are, therefore,individually removable from the supply in a smooth, orderly manner so asto be individually dispensed with each operation of the machine.

In operating the equipment described, an electrical circuit .such asthat shown in FIG. 8 may be used. For this purpose, current is suppliedthrough the lines and 132 from any suitable source. When a coin isinserted in the coin slot 82, it engages the contact member 84 tomomentarily close a circuit from line 130 through line 134 to contact 84and solenoid 86 and thence through line 136 back to the opposite side132 of the current source. The solenoid 86, when energized, raises thelatch member 88 whereupon the spring 96 raises the switch end 98 of bellcrank 92 to close the motor starting switch 100. Current then flows fromthe side 132 of the power line through the line 138 to switch 100 andthence through line 140, motor 40 and line 142 back to the opposite side130 of the power source.

As the motor 40 rotates, it drives gears 42 and 76 to actuate the baglifting member and to move the pin 102 on gear 76 into engagement withthe slide 104. The holding switch 108 is engaged by the arm 36 of thelifting member prior to the breaking of the motor energizing circuit bythe opening of switch 100 as the bell crank is restored to the startingposition of FIG. 5. Thus, when the holding switch is closed, currentflows from the side 132 of the current source through line 138 toholding switch 108 and then flows through line 140 to the motor 40 andback to the line 130 through line 142. The opening of motor startingswitch 100 can thus take place without de-energizing the motor 40. Themotor instead will continue to operate until the holding switch 108 isopened by return of the bag lifting arm to its upper bag dispensingposition. All of the elements will thus be returned to their initial orstarting position at the conclusion of each cycle of operation.

The coin blocking means 110, for preventing insertion of a coin into theslot 82 when there is a bag in the bag guiding throat or the supply ofbags is exhausted, is actuated by the relay 118. For this purpose, thebag actuated switch 120 and bag supply switch 122' can be connected inseries with the relay 118 to receive current from line 136 and line 144.Since the switches 120 and 122 are normally closed, the solenoid 118will normally be energized unless there is a bag passing through thethroat of the equipment or the bag supply is exhausted, or unless thecurrent supply to the equipment is cut off for some reason.

While the circuit arrangement illustrated is preferred, it will, ofcourse, be apparent that various other circuit arrangements may beemployed. In a similar way, the linkage and other elements employed foractuating and controlling the operation of the bag lifting means may beconstructed and arranged in various ways as desired for any particularinstallation. Moreover, the bags themselves may be positioned and movedas desired to deliver them sideways instead of upward from the bagsupply if preferred.

These and other changes and modifications may be made in the form,construction and arrangement of the elements of the combination to adaptthe invention for use with various types and sizes of bags and tosimplify the construction and operation of the mechanism.

In view thereof it should be understood that the particular embodimentof the invention shown in the drawings and described above is intendedto 'be illustrative only and is not intended to limit the scope of theinvention.

We claim:

1. Equipment for dispensing one shopping bag at a time from a supply ofsuch bags maintained in such equipment comprising means forsupporting'said supply of shopping bags in a flat folded arrangement andin a vertical position one behind another with the tops of the bagsfacing downward and the folded bottoms of the bags facing forwardly inthe equipment, means for urging said bags forward in the equipment, alifting member positioned in front of said supply of bags, said liftingmember having one end thereof pivotally mounted on the equipment andprovided at its opposite end with an upwardly turned edge movable in anarcuate path to project beneath the forwardly facing folded bottom ofthe foremost bag in said supply, means urging said edge of the liftingmember into engagement with the foremost bag in said supply, a motorconnected to said lifting member and operable to move the same through acycle of operation from a raised bag dispensing position to a loweredposition in which said edge of the lifting member projects beneath thedownwardly facing folded bottom of the foremost bag of said supply andback to said raised bag dispensing position, a coin slot, a circuit foractuating said motor including a switch located adjacent said coin slotand operable upon insertion of a coin into said slot for initiating saidcycle of operation, switch means operable upon conclusion of said cyclefor de-energizing said motor, and means actuated by a bag beingdispensed for obstructing said coin slot.

2. Equipment for dispensing shopping bags which when folded present abottom portion that projects from an adjacent side of the bag near oneend thereof, said equipment comprising a cabinet having a dischargeopening through which a folded bag is movable, means in the cabinet forholding a supply of folded bags with the projecting bottom portionsthereof facing in the same direction, a bag moving member located in thecabinet, means for moving said supply of bags toward said bag movingmember, actuating means for moving said bag moving member through -acycle of operations, a bag engaging element connected to said bag movingmember and movable thereby to pass beneath the projecting bottom portionof the foremost bag in said supply, said element and a bag engagedthereby being movable by said member to a discharge position wherein theend of the bag near said projecting bottom portion extends outward fromsaid discharge opening, control means for said actuating means operablewhen said bag engaging element moves to said discharge position tointerrupt the cycle of movement of said bag moving member so that saidelement will remain in said discharge position and hold the bag engagedthereby with the end of the bag extending outward from said dischargeopening until said bag is removed, said actuating means including amotor, operating means movable to initiate the operation of said motor,and means engaged by a bag located in said discharge position forpreventing renewed operation of said operating means until said bag isremoved from said discharge opening.

3. In combination with a supply of folded shopping bags each of whichbags has a bottom portion projecting from one end of the folded bag andpositioned to overlie an adjacent side of the bag and has handlesprojecting from the opposite end of the bag with the handles of each bagin the supply separated from the handles of an adjacent bag in thesupply to prevent entanglement of said handles with the handles of anadjacent bag in the supply and permit separation of one bag at a timefrom said supply, equipment for dispensing said shopping bags one at atime from said supply, said equipment comprising a cabinet in which saidsupply of bags is located, said cabinet having a discharge opening therein through which a folded shopping bag from said supply is movable, abag moving member located in the cabinet, means for moving said supplyof bags toward said bag moving member with the bottom portion of theforemost bag in the supply facing said bag moving member, a bag engagingelement connected to said bag moving member and movable thereby througha cycle of operations to engage said bottom portion of the foremost bagin the supply to separate said foremost bag from the supply and move itto a discharge position wherein an end of the bag extends outward fromsaid discharge opening in the cabinet, actuating means for said bagmoving member including a motor, coin actuated control means operable toinitiate operation of said motor and a cycle of operations of said bagengaging element, and means engaged by a bag in said discharge positionfor preventing renewed operation of said coin actuated control meansuntil said bag is removed from said discharge opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

